Local business owners, residents decry Sakonnet tolls

Thursday

Aug 23, 2012 at 12:01 AMAug 23, 2012 at 12:28 PM

PORTSMOUTH — Gov. Lincoln D. Chafee came to town Thursday to discuss ways to help small businesses — and ended up getting the business.

The morning meeting at Portsmouth Town Hall, billed as a community forum on state programs to assist small businesses, turned into a two-hour gripe session on a decision to put tolls on the new Sakonnet River bridge.

As soon as he arrived and walked through a gantlet of people waving signs protesting the toll, Chafee apparently knew what was in store for him. As he opened the forum to a crowd that lined the walls of the council chambers and looked in through open windows at the rear of the room, Chafee immediately changed the format and welcomed the crowd’s thoughts on tolls.

In June, the General Assembly approved and Chafee signed legislation authorizing the state to turn over the new Sakonnet bridge between Portsmouth and Tiverton, which is expected to open to traffic sometime in early September, and the Jamestown-Verrazzano Bridge to the Rhode Island Turnpike and Bridge Authority.

The authority could not accept the bridges without a dedicated revenue stream to pay for their maintenance, so the legislation also authorizes a toll on the new Sakonnet bridge. The authority currently uses tolls collected on the Pell Bridge to maintain it and the Mount Hope Bridge.

For two hours, the governor and state Department of Transportation Director Michael Lewis patiently answered questions from residents,business owners and college students.

Although their concerns differed subtly, their message was the same: Tolls will hurt local residents and businesses.

“We are being held hostage to get off this island,” said one man, who said he lived on Aquidneck Island and has a business in Tiverton. “You shouldn’t have to pay a toll to get on and off this island.”

Others complained that while Newport County residents help pay for bridge and road maintenance in other parts of the state, they were being singled out to support the bridges here.

“We have tons of bridges (in Rhode Island),” said Karen Toti, president of the Portsmouth Business Association. “Why do we have to support all the bridges in this state? It just doesn’t make sense.”

“We’re tired of being the ATM for the state,” said Portsmouth resident Kathy Melvin.

As he has at numerous forums since taking over DOT four years ago, Lewis said the state has fallen behind on bridge and road maintenance because it lacks resources. The only real financing vehicle it has is the state gas tax, he said, and half of that is used to repay bond issues approved by voters that are used as matches to obtain federal transportation aid. Lewis said the state’s transportation debt is up to $454 million. This year, for the first time in recent memory, there will be no transportation bond issue on the November ballot.

Similar to the toll on the Pell Bridge, a Sakonnet bridge toll would be dedicated to maintenance of the bridges under the authority’s control. The legislation authorizes excess toll revenue to be used for road projects in the East Bay area, which includes Newport County and Bristol, Barrington and Warren.

“I want you to understand the rage people in this community feel,” said Jim Hall, president of Aquidneck Construction. “We are going to get hammered again.”

Hall said he has to make several trips a day to Tiverton to pick up stone and gravel for his construction projects and would not qualify for the residential toll discount now in place on the Pell Bridge. (Rhode Island residents with E-ZPass pay 83 cents per trip over the Pell Bridge, while those with out-of-state transponders or paying cash pay $4.)

Tom Linares, a Portsmouth resident with his own fine carpentry business, said he has the same problem. He travels frequently to Tiverton to pick up material for his work. His problem, though, is compounded by the fact his wife works in Tiverton.

“The nature of the north end of this island is we always do business over the line,” Linhares said. “Please don’t put this toll on us.”

Although they listened attentively and answered all questions politely, Lewis and Chafee repeatedly stressed the need to generate new revenue to make sure the bridges are properly maintained — unlike the existing Sakonnet River Bridge, which will be demolished.

Lewis said he estimated it would cost about $2 million a year to maintain the new Sakonnet bridge when it opens and about $3 million a year to keep up with work on the Jamestown-Verrazzano Bridge. The DOT currently oversees the Sakonnet and Jamestown bridges.

Amy Stowe of Portsmouth gave Lewis two suggestions on how to pay for that upkeep. Raising the gas tax one cent would raise about $4.2 million a year, she said, and eliminating legislative grants, which total about $12 million a year, would pay for the expected bridge maintenance costs.

After the meeting, Lewis said nothing new surfaced during the discussion. But, he said, all the concerns would be considered while DOT conducts a toll-impact study, which is necessary before a toll can be placed on the new bridge. The study would address the need for tolls, how much a toll would be and where the toll structure would be placed.

Some residents suggested the toll be placed farther north on Route 24 to allow residents from Aquidneck Island and Tiverton to use the new bridge without paying a toll.

Nicolette M. Hathaway of Portsmouth, a student at Rhode Island College, said the toll would be another financial burden on her as she struggles to pay her tuition.

Jeff Phelan, who operates Leisure Limo in Portsmouth, complained that he would be taking another hit on top of the 7 percent sales tax the state extended to his industry this year.

“Between the tolls and the tax, you’re putting me out of business,” Phelan said.

In a letter he submitted to Chafee, John Vitkevich, chairman of the newly formed Sakonnet River Toll Discussion Group, said another toll would be a death knell for the island economy.

“It is our biggest fear that a toll on the Sakonnet River bridge will act as a catalyst for a long, slow, painful economic decline for the Portsmouth business community and Aquidneck Island,” Vitkevich wrote. “A toll on the ... bridge is economic homicide for Aquidneck Island.”

The budget article that authorized the bridge transfer and toll passed by a relatively slim 44-30 margin in the House. Rep. Raymond E. Gallison, D-Bristol, who also represents part of Portsmouth, said that gives him hope that it could be repealed when the new legislative session opens in January.

“With an $8 billion state budget, we should be able to find $2 million a year to maintain the Sakonnet River bridge,” Gallison said.

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